Rangers reassign Othmann, Korczak; Place Mackey on waivers

The Rangers have trimmed their roster by three more players, reassigning forwards Brennan Othmann and Ryder Korczak to the AHL. Connor Mackey has been placed on waivers as well. The big news is Othmann going to the AHL, but if you were paying attention, this isn’t a surprise. Othmann had one strong game out of all six preseason games, and for the most part was a non factor.

As a reminder, this doesn’t necessarily mean Othmann is taking a step back. He needed to beat out Will Cuylle, an established NHLer, for a third line role. He didn’t. That’s all there is to it. Othmann is not going to be a fourth liner, and putting him on the fourth line sets him up for failure. Instead, he will develop more in Hartford.

What’s interesting is Brett Berard and Matthew Robertson remain with the Rangers. Berard, unlike Othmann, can play on the fourth line. Adam Edstrom looked far better than Berard, so I do wonder if it’s Berard or Matt Rempe for the final roster spot. None of these three require waivers.

Robertson, on the other hand, will require waivers. There are two scenarios here. The first is they are going to try to sneak him through waivers tomorrow. The second is they hold onto him as a spare defenseman and return Victor Mancini to Hartford, despite outplaying Robertson, since Mancini doesn’t require waivers.